Ukraine Destroys Russian Air Defense System With Attack Drone

Ukrainian forces successfully targeted and destroyed a Russian “Strela-10” Arrow air defense system in a drone attack on Sunday, as reported by Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR).

The attack video was released on Tuesday via Telegram by HUR, revealing that Kyiv’s special operations unit identified the defense system along the front lines. The footage captured the moment when Ukraine’s first-person-view (FPV) drones struck the system, leading to its destruction.

“On this particular day, the enemy anti-aircraft guns were commemorating Russia’s Air Defense Forces Day, and they received a fitting response,” HUR stated in the Telegram post regarding the attack on the system.

“Following the attack, the Russian ‘arrow’ is no longer operational—the system has been neutralized!” HUR declared. “Glory to Ukraine!”

The Russian 9K35 Strela-10 is a Soviet-era surface-to-air missile system capable of targeting aerial threats at short range. According to Dutch open-source intelligence site Oryx, 44 of Moscow’s Strela-10 systems have been either destroyed or captured by Ukraine since the start of the conflict. Oryx’s database was last updated at the end of the previous month.

Kyiv’s Special Operation Forces (SSO) also confirmed the destruction of a Russian T-90 tank along the Donetsk front on Tuesday. A video shared on SSO’s Telegram page showed footage from an FPV drone tracking the tank on a nearby road. The attack caused the tank to ignite, and subsequent footage depicted Russian soldiers moving to a different armored vehicle.

“During reconnaissance operations in the Donetsk direction, the operators of the 3rd SSO regiment identified the enemy tank ‘T-90,’ which was targeting Defense Forces positions,” the Telegram post read.

“With the use of an FPV drone, the operators of the ‘Medoid’ tactical group successfully targeted the tank,” SSO reported. “The tank was immobilized, and the commander and gunner sustained injuries.”

Newsweek reached out to Russia’s Ministry of Defense for comment but was unable to independently verify the reports on Tuesday night.

The release of these videos comes amidst Russia’s continued advances along the front lines against Ukraine this year. Geolocated footage analyzed by the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War indicated that Moscow had extended the conflict deeper into Ukrainian territory in the Donetsk region by Sunday.